Mafia ‘planned to blow up’ Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Sicilian Mafia considered blowing up the Leaning Tower of Pisa to shock the authorities into making concessions, a repentant gangster has testified.

Gioacchino La Barbera told a recent hearing that the idea was mooted in 1992 by his boss, Nino Gioe, who later committed suicide in prison. “Imagine if Italy wakes up and can no longer find the Tower of Pisa,” La Barbera quoted Gioe as saying.

The explosives were prepared but the operation was aborted because of a swath of Mafia arrests a year later including the “boss of bosses” Salvatore “Totòo” Riina.

Other potential targets included the Basilica of St John Lateran in Rome and the Georgofili Academy in Florence